Grass Stains
by Karianasan
Summary: It all started one nice summer day, out on the Lawn. Everyday story, look forward to cute gang interactions! Chapter 7 is out! Enjoy!
1. Grass Stains

Sitting by the window, Fred found himself watching the guys play outside. Shaggy and Scooby never seemed to care where they horsed around, and the front yard was as good as any. As he watched the two tumbled in the grass, mock fighting in the lawn. Though 'fighting' might have been too strong of a word, as their battle was mostly made up tackles and throws. Not really the best battle tactics, unless you were fighting at recess. But not like that mattered to the two goofs, they were having fun either way. A little bit too much fun, if you asked Fred. He was sometimes jealous the two, as they were able to make something good out of anything. Even the front lawn.

To him, the front lawn was something that had to be mowed every so often, not somewhere to roll around. A bunch of grass that existed to take up his time and make him bake under the sunlight. But there seemed to be a joy in their actions, one that brought him outside to sit at on the stairs to watch. Maybe a part of him was just puzzled, wondering why they could be having such fun with something that seemed so simple. They were just rolling around, wrestling this way and that. Yet they made it seem like it was the most entertaining thing in the world.

_Was he missing something? Had Fred become too much of an adult to see why playing in the grass was so much fun? Was there some rule that said that this was a bad thing? Or did society just frown upon adults acting like little kids?_ _He was still the same, responsible Fred. But couldn't he also indulge his inner Freddie and join his friends playing in the grass before him? Was it so wrong?_

"They should be shot..." Came a voice from behind him. He turned to look, and watched Daphne come out from inside.

"How dare they do such terrible things to their clothes. Do you even know how long it takes to get grass stains out of fabric?" Daphne said with a huff, sitting upon the same stair that Fred was on. It seemed that their antics, had also drawn her to watch. He laughed, knowing that she must be fighting the same argument he was having with himself. He smiled, shaking his head.

"And yet, with all the threat of stains and dirt... that still looks like fun, doesn't it?" Fred offered, waving a hand in Shaggy and Scooby's direction. Daphne turned her head away with a pout, crossing her arms. She was losing the battle, just as much as he was. Though maybe this was a good thing for Fred. It would look better for a group of adults to all be making fools of themselves together, rather then just him.

"Yes, which is why they should be shot." She turned back and shook her head at herself and the guys, the sides of her mouth looked strained against her tight lipped pout. Almost like she was fighting it. "Why do they make getting dirty, look like a blast?" She said annoyed, tossing her hands in the air with a sigh.

Resigning herself, she slumped over to glare at the pair. Settling an elbow to her leg, she leaned her head against her palm. She was confused and curious at the same time. Her fashion sense was clashing with her sense of adventure. She wanted to kick them both, if it didn't look like something he wanted to actually do herself.

"Having some troubles Daph?" Velma popped up from behind the other woman, and shifted all her weight upon the other woman's head. Crossing her arms, Velma placed them on her friend's head and then placed her chin upon it. She had a grin plastered against her face. Velma might not look like the kind of person who would join in the tumble in the grass, but out of the three upon the stairs... She would be the first to join.

"Yes, how dare they have fun." Daphne was obviously over acting, her mask breaking as Velma was added to the mix. She had a image to maintain, and the younger woman had just broken it. Which was probably the reason Velma did it.

"Velma... I was on a roll!" Daphne laughed with the brunette, who slid into the stair beside her. When she had gotten to her seat, she gave the woman a half hearted whap on the shoulder. Her resolve to be mad at them faded, as Velma was added to the mix. There was something about all of them being there, that made it feel more natural. Like if Velma and Fred joined, Daphne would be able to as well. Not that she would ever say that aloud.

"Ah yes, you could have been a movie star!" Velma fawned, placing the back of her hand to her forehead. She was quickly bumped by the slightly offended woman who laughed anyway at the comment. Which broke into a small shoving match, grins growing upon both their faces. Fred was soon pushed back as result, earning a laugh from him.

"Ladies, Ladies.. Why don't we stop all this bickering and join those silly fools on the lawn? What do you say?" Fred offered, finding it too hard to sit on the stairs and he really wanted to tackle Scooby when he faced away from him. Not like they were helping either, as they nearly were starting something on the stairs anyway. Stopping, the two women gave each other a knowing look before looked at him. Velma let Daphne do all the talking.

"Two words..." Daphne spoke, holding up two fingers. "...New clothes."

Daphne said before a short pause, her brows furrowed as she thought of something that she should add to the previous statement. "Actually, _old_ clothes to be correct. I am **not** letting you get grass stains on that classic white shirt look."

"And as much as I love my sweaters and skirt, I'm with Daphne on this. Old clothes it is." Velma agreed, she was not really willing to toss around in the grass with her skirt. She might not really have much choice on a mystery, but she would rather not flash the neighbors if she had the option. Skirts plus gravity tended to end up embarrassing Velma. And if she could help it, pants were a simple solution. That and she had already gotten the grass stain lecture from Daphne, and didn't want to repeat it again. It was safer that way.

With Daphne Taking the lead, Velma rose up from her seat to get into position. Scooping up on either side, Velma and Daphne grabbed Fred and lightly tugged him to his feet. (Though they could have easily carried him, if either had so wished.) And led him inside to get changed.

Rolling over, Scooby invited a tackle from Shaggy, Belly exposed and tail wagging at his human companion. Shaggy could not waste that opportunity, and easily took the bait. As the two tumbled in the grass, they waited a bit before stopping. With the two in a tangle, they looked up at where they gang had disappeared into. A smile formed on the duo's face, Shaggy giving Scooby a head ruffle.

"Looks like' our plan worked Scoob."

"Rah! Rah!"

"Those guys had been spending too much time inside. The like' needed to get out and enjoy the air. Our work here is done."

Getting an evil gleam in his eye, Scooby took advantage of Shaggy's distraction towards the house. Pushing with his back feet, he tossed his lanky buddy aside and jumped on top with a whoop of victory. Laying upon the floor, Shaggy sighed into the grass. While their plan to get the rest of the gang worked..._ Now what?_ He would have to think about it... Once he managed to pin Scooby into the grass.

* * *

><p>The fighting had resumed by the time the rest of the gang had come back outside. The rest of them would never know about the conversation that had happened while they were away, revealing the cunning plan that had been in motion all along. Not that it really mattered to anyone, since the plan had worked.<p>

Fred was the first to emerge, standing in his old pair of jeans and a raggedy t-shirt he used when he worked on the Van. Various oil stains and bit of paint dotted the clothing, being the perfect kind of outfit to get down and dirty in. The kind of clothes that were ok in Daphne's book, that was made for that kind of thing. Velma was second to come out, mainly because she had to search a bit longer for her work clothes. She had been teaching young Marcie how to skateboard, and her suspenders had been in the wash. So trying to find it among the rest of the wash that made up the laundry room, was a bit of a challenge. She also opted for her sneakers, as they would help grip the ground far better then her Mary Janes. Standing beside Fred, she watched Shaggy and Scooby in the grass.

"So, you want the tall one? And I'll go for the fuzzy fiend on the ground?" Velma offered to Fred, giving him the option to take on Shaggy. Which was obviously the harder target to manage, knowing Fred always liked a challenge. That and she and Scooby had a tally going, and she was on the loosing end. She needed to fix that. Too many times Scooby had caught her off guard while she was reading, and she needed to pay the Dane back for all the surprises.

"Heh, sounds good to me. Though do you think you can handle it? He's a wily one, that Scoob." Fred said with a hip bump, picking on the younger woman. Though she wasn't ruffled that easily. Taking his challenge, she made sure to give him a bump back, but with interest. Fred stumbled a bit, but took it in stride. He laughed at his loss. At least she didn't give his arm a punch, those tended to hurt!

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Looking back, the two found Daphne posed and ready for the day. With her hands placed at her hips, she looked ready to take on the world in her purple jump suit. She had used it ages ago for several mysteries, but it had long been retired. But she was not one to waste a perfectly good piece of clothing, just because it was out of style. So it became her junkie clothes; used for her dark room, painting and anything else that might get her dirty. Like romping around on the lawn.

"Well... Shall we?" Fred smiled, offering his hand towards the pair. Though he wasn't really sure this was a situation that deemed worthy of 'Ladies First'. As much of a gentlemen he was, he didn't know if this feel into the rules of proper conduct. Oh well...

Jumping the stairs, Fred made a odd beeline towards Shaggy. Had Fred gone straight, the impact he figured, would put them both on the sidewalk. So he put a curve on his run and aimed to hit the other man, sideways. He had lined it up perfectly... except that Fred didn't plan to have Shaggy pop up right before he impacted.

"I have a pl-**WAH!**" Shooting up to his feet, Shaggy hadn't noticed that Fred had been running at him. Instead, his mind had been occupied with the thoughts of what to do, rather then paying attention to his surroundings. But it had been worth it, since he had figured out the perfect thing to do with the gang. Fred had been shooting to hit Shaggy on the ground, but with him getting to his feet, Fred hit him about the legs. Which send both men into a tumble, away from the surprised Scooby who had been aiming to jump back at Shaggy for a tackle of his own. Taking a moment to realize what had just happened, Scooby then turned to laughing at Shaggy's misfortune. It did not last long, as the girls took the opportunity to catch the Dane off guard with a double flying tackle.

"Bonzai!"

A small battle began on the front lawn, each party battled against each other for a bit thought one was fighting extra hard to get free. But not for the reason that most might want to get free.

"**_WAIT! _**" Shouting aloud, Shaggy was the one to stop all the chaos. All eyes turned on him, waiting to see why he had stopped them all. Letting the man go, Fred looked at his friend as he waited to hear what could be the reason he stopped them all. Especially when they had just started to have fun.

"I have a better idea."

And with that, the gang was soon sitting upon the stairs awaiting to hear the reason for the ceasefire. Each sat organized upon each step, looking at the scruffy man that looked them over with a satisfied nod. He paced back and forth for a little bit, eying them before he finally spoke.

"I mean, this is fun and all. But I think the day to too nice to waste without some kind of point."

Blinking, Fred was not sure how to take this. Playing had a point? It sounded like it had merit, but it sounded odd coming out of one of the goofiest member of the gang. So at least he had gotten Fred's attention, and looking at the others, he had theirs as well. The girls and Scooby had all eyes on Shaggy, waiting for what he was going to say.

"There is like' a reason for my crazy... er. That's not right. Um, what is the saying..." Stroking his goatee, Shaggy tried to remember what he was trying to say.

"Method to your madness?" Velma offered, Flipping one wrist skyward. Shaggy shook his head up and down.

"Like' what she said. Since everyone has come out, why don't we play a game? A true test of courage, brains and skill." With each word, he moved his hands and arms to emphasis his words. But he just made Fred puzzled, _what could be a test of courage, brains and skill?_

"So what do you have in mind?" Daphne asked aloud, wondering what he had up his sleeves.

"Tag my dear Daphne. A simple game of tag." Shaggy said with a smile, bowing to the red head and hamming up up for all to see. Finally revealing his master plan.


	2. Tag Rules

"Tag? Really? All the build up, and you want to play a game of tag?" Daphne snorted, not seeing the idea as a good one. Even tossing about in the grass, seemed to make more sense to her.

"Well Daph, he might have something here." Fred placed a hand to his chin, thinking about it. Tag was definitely a game of skill, especially when all the players were older and much craftier then children. So there was some difficulty and strategy needed in order to survive. "Any particular type, Shag?"

"Well, there are so many different types. And some are as old as the early 20th century, like 'last tag'. Though I'm a bit rusty on my kid games history, so there might be earlier examples. I too am curious which variation you are thinking of. Please continue Shaggy." Velma opened the floor to Shaggy, who took a few steps back before outstretching his hands to the side.

"I give you the front lawn, this will be our playing field."

The lawn was two main pieces of grass, split down the middle with the sidewalk that led to the front steps the rest of the gang was sitting upon. On one side was the driveway, though the Mystery Machine was pulled up towards the garage, and left the area clear till the fence that separated their property from their neighbors. On the other side was another fence that ending their property as well. And then there was the sidewalk that ran along the front of the lawn, allowing people to walk by. There was also a thin strip of lawn that hung out on the other side of the public sidewalk part, but it really was small and would make using it a bit troublesome for the people trying to avoid being tagged it.

"The rules are easy. The person or people who are it, can only be on the sidewalk and pavement. They can walk across the grass parts, but they can only tag the person out if they have at least a part of them touching the sidewalk or driveway." Dropping to his stomach, he laid across the grass but kept one toe upon the path he had been on a second ago. From the laying position, he wiggled his arm back and forth as he spoke into the grass.

"If this tags someone, it's ok and the person is out. But this isn't like' the best position to try to catch people, as they can run by you on the ground. So this is where the brains and like' skill, come in! You have to know when to dive for it, and when to wait for a better opportunity to tag someone."

Looking over at Velma, Fred could see the corner of her mouth moving into a smile. There was wheels turning in her mind, spawning ideas in her crafty mind. No doubt already thinking of methods to both catch and avoid being caught. Fred was jealous of her planning mind, but then again sometimes that was an advantage as well, since sometimes she would over think things. Looking over at Daphne, oddly she had a similar look on her face, though she voiced her thoughts.

"You... You learned this recently, didn't you?"

"Why would you say that?" Shaggy tried to play innocent, but it wasn't going very well. It was like the fact was obviously written all over his face. That and he wasn't really hiding it that well either. Fred knew the man could, if he_ wanted_ to.

"Well, you recently was asked to watch the boys over at their place... They are the culprits that taught you, and you just wanted an excuse to play it again?" Daphne accused lightly, more to point it out then to blame the man for his reasoning. Shaggy held up his hands and laughed.

"Guilty as charged." He admitted. "But it was too easy with me and Scoob verse them. But they are getting better. Give them a few years and it might be a nice challenge. But I wanted to play with you guys..." He whined, still sitting on the sidewalk from where he had been showing off his example.

"Well, it does sound like fun." Fred admitted, being on Shaggy's side. And since they all were going to do it, he didn't have to feel silly. And playing a game was far more organized then just tussling about on the lawn, so his inner adult was able to be more ok with this, then the previous idea.

Giving Fred a look, Daphne sighed and resigned herself to playing. She had gotten all dressed up (down?) for the occasion, so she might as well give in. Though she wasn't totally into it. But maybe that would change as they would start playing.

"Alright, we might as well get this over with." Daphne grumbled, though the others didn't share her negative attitude. Looking back over to Shaggy, she held up her hand towards him. "Anything else we need to know?"

Placing his hand to his chin, he played with the little hairs that made up his goatee as he thought. He tried to recall where he had left off.

"Hm... Easy rules..." He mumbled to himself, thinking aloud to remember what he had said already. "Sidewalk people are it, grass people are not. Have to touch the sidewalk with some part of you in order to tag out. Hmm... Oh!"

Looking up, Shaggy placed a closed fist into the palm of the other hand with a smack. Pushing off the ground, he got to his feet with a bound.

"There are several house rules. So I don't know which ones we want to use right now. Normal rules have once you are tagged, you are out and have to sit on the side till the game is over. That version usually has only one or two people 'it', and the rest are on the grass. Like' there is another version, which tend to be quicker but can be alot of fun with more people playing. Which is the one where once you are tagged, you become 'it' as well. But then the sidewalk can kinda get crowded, but it's harder for the grass people to cross. And then there is the endless version!" He smiled, thinking about when they played it before with the boys.

"The endless version?" Velma perked up, putting her mental plans off to the side to listen to the new version that Shaggy had been mentioning. She figured the first two, but the third caught her interest.

"Yep! The endless version is like' really simple. The first person who starts being 'it', has one goal... Tag someone and switch places with them!"

"But won't that be boring after a while? Especially if one person get's caught often? They will end up 'it' alot, wouldn't they?" Daphne wasn't feeling so confident that, that wouldn't be her being it all the time.

"Yeah, but they thought of that. You can't tag the same person in a row. So if I like' tag Velma, then Velma can't like, tag me. So she would have to tag someone else, and they would have to tag me, in order for me to get 'it' again. So you have immunity from the tag before, but not after that. It makes it alot easier to make sure it's not the same person over and over again." Shaggy said with a nod. It sounded reasonable enough, that even Daphne couldn't argue with it.

"So, like which version do we want to play?" Shaggy spoke up, eager to get the game started. Fred and Velma looked at each other. Cocking her head to the side, Velma pondered it for a second before her eyes drifted to Daphne. Noticing that Velma was looking in another way, Fred turned and saw Daphne as well. Like little kids, three sets of eyes stared eagerly at the red head, who didn't like all the attention.

"Bah. Alright. I'll decide..." She snorted, shaking her head about in annoyance. But since she was the one dragging her feet the most, they wanted her to be the one to choose. Then maybe she would be more into it.

"Let's try the first, normal one. So we can get used to it. But that means you're it Shaggy!" Throwing up her hands, she gave up. The rest of the gang got up with a whoop, and moved towards their respectable places.

"Oh!" Looking about, Shaggy noticed they were missing someone. Looking around, he found that Scooby had gotten bored of all the talking and found himself up the patio in the front of the house. Curled into a ball, Scooby was snoozing. Chuckling, Shaggy gave the dog a prod with a foot. Wiggling it under the sleeping form, he made Scooby bounce a bit before the sleepy Dane blinked awake.

"Ri Raggy." Scooby greeted his buddy with a groggy wave.

"Heh, like' hi back Scoob. We're ready to play... Come on!" Turning his back to his pal, he skipped down the stairs and waved for Scooby to follow. Hearing that the game was on, Scooby was up and awake in an instant. Scrambling against the wood porch, Scooby dashed to get on the playing field.

"R'ame r'on!"

Spreading his paws in all four directions, Scooby took point and was poised to rush off. Wiggling his butt, he waited for the game to officially begin. Eager like any dog was, when there was a game to play.

"Alright. If you get tagged, it's to the stairs with you." Shaggy thumbed towards the steps with a grin. He bobbed and shook out all of his limbs, getting ready to dash towards anyone within reach to tag out. The others did similar, getting ready to start the game. With a squint, Shaggy eyed his competition.

"Alright. Like' Scoob said. Game on!"

* * *

><p><em>Just in case anyone is wondering, the two 'culprits' as Daphne pointed out are Thomas and Daniel from Courage in Curious Places. I so can see Shaggy being borrowed to watch the boys, though I'm not sure who would be watching who for some of it. XD I love using those cute little kids. So I add them when I can get away with it. You can also see them in Coming Together. Any-who, just a note from the friendly writer. I hope you are enjoying it so far! Stay tuned for action packed, tag action!<em>

_~Toki_


	3. First Round!

For the first few seconds, no one moved.

Shaggy had his arms spread out, like a goalie ready to dash to either side to catch anyone. He had a slight weave to his stance, shifting his weight as he watched to see who would make the first move. They all started on the same side, so Shaggy only had to pay attention to one direction at first, but that gave him the advantage for the first go. Now all he needed was someone to get into his range...

"GO!"

Shouting from the back, Fred had given a loud yell that distracted the lanky man from his concentration. Looking up for where Fred had shouted, it was no surprise that the man wasn't there anymore. As Shaggy's eyes tried to track Fred's movement towards him, he got distracted by the sudden movement of red in the corner of his eye. Catching him off guard, Velma used his peripheral vision against him and made Shaggy pause in an attempt to track the both of them as they moved. He wasn't ready for a two pronged attack, as Velma and Fred dashed on either side of Shaggy, just out of arms reach.

Grassed being kicked up at the effort, the two leapt over the sidewalk as if it was lava, (as any little kid would properly consider it.) and landed on the other side of the lawn. Shaggy's hands caught air, swinging harmlessly behind where the two had been. Spinning about, Shaggy faced the two that got passed him.

"Zoinks! That was great guys!" As much as he liked being 'it', Shaggy didn't have it in him to get annoyed at them for getting by. Actually, he was really happy that it happened. The two brothers actually had done something similar to him, the first time he played the game. But they had their heights to their advantage; as Shaggy had been right on track to catch one, but missed because he was too tall and didn't think about the height difference. This time he lost fair and square... so all he would have to do was be faster next time. Which was exactly why he had wanted to play this with the gang in the first place.

Panting from the sudden running, both Velma and Fred hadn't expected that to work. But they were happy that it had, moving close enough to each other to give an enthusiastic high five.

"I don't think that will work on him again..." Fred commented, thumbing towards Shaggy. Velma nodded, leaning on her upper legs to hold herself up.

"I agree. Just means we need to be craftier..." Velma said with a laugh.

"Ra-hoo!" Came a shout that distracted all. With a whoop, Scooby finally gave into the urge to run. Making his sudden break, Shaggy turned around to watch his four legged buddy bound to the thin strip of grass that sat on the far side of the sidewalk. Dashing awfully close to the street (which was also the person who was 'it' territory, as long as there was no cars) Scooby was making a run for the other side. Pushing off the ground, Shaggy was in pursuit.

With Shaggy no where near, Velma saw her chance to run back across to the other side. Crossing the bit of grass that she had kept between her and Shaggy's outrageously long arms, she hopped the pavement and made it safely to the other side about the same time Scooby managed to get his furry tail out of range. With a roll, the Dane avoided the swipe of Shaggy's arm after him, thanking his own small height to add to his advantage.

Fred was slow to run forward. As he tried to close the gap towards the other side, Shaggy noticed this and gave a hop towards his blond friend. Seeing Shaggy start to come closer, Fred tried to stop himself in time, but Shaggy was too fast. Making a grab at him, Fred tried to dodge out of the way. Pushing back, he tried to pull off a move he had seen on a movie. Leaning his weight backwards, he bent himself at the knees and brought his head and shoulders out of range. Using his arms to fill in the rest of the movement from the movie, he pretended that Shaggy's arm was bullets.

It worked... For dodging the first grab. But as Shaggy pulled back, Fred was unable to fight gravity any more then he already had. With a thud, Fred's back met the grass and he was left looking to the sky. Crouching, Shaggy gave a chuckle at Fred's feet.

"Good try." Shaggy said as he lightly tapped Fred's knee as it pointed to the sky. "But I don't think it works as well as it did in the movie. Sorry Fred."

Extending his hand, Shaggy offered to help Fred to his feet. already tagged out, Fred sighed and laughed as he took his friend's offered help. Pulling himself to his feet, he brushed his backside off to clear off any bits of grass that clung to it. Thankfully he didn't hurt himself with the crazy move, well... hurt nothing more then his pride and maybe a bit of his ego for good measure.

"I'm out." Trotting to get out of the way, Fred was the first to sit on the stairs.

"Alright, thanks Fred. Now we know what not to do." Velma snickered, picking on him for getting out first. So, now it was Scooby and her... and Daphne?

Making sure she was far enough back, Velma put herself in a safe place before she felt safe enough to look back. Just standing in the back corner, Daphne didn't look like she had moved at all.

"Come on, why don't you want to play?" Velma asked, wanting to prod the other woman into moving. It was fun! But she wasn't getting into it.

"But if I stand here, there isn't a way that I can get out." Daphne said plainly, not seeing why she should move.

"But, that isn't the point!" Came a whine from an odd position. Looking down at her feet, she noticed Shaggy had saw her distraction, and tried to lay out on the grass to tag her. But since Velma had seen what range Shaggy had when he was on the ground and stretched, she knew how far she needed to be to avoid it. Though that had only been from one direction. Had he gone from the other side, she might not have been able to avoid the tag. But he had used her back being turned, and tried to reach from the range she knew, patting frantically to try to inch to get her. A step to the side, further away from him, moved her out of frantic range. She had Daphne to deal with, so she didn't want to get tagged yet.

"What's wrong Daph? You usually like being competitive and all that. Why don't you want to play?" Fred got up from his seat and wandered along the front porch to stand by where Daphne was hiding. He leaned on the railing that surrounded it, looking down at her from his 'out' spot.

"Well... I..." She didn't say anything, but she looked around to the various houses that sat around them. Which made the others look around as well.

"What, you're afraid that someone's going to be watching?" Velma snorted, finding the idea silly. Sure, she had felt a little bit insecure at first, but once she was playing she didn't really care if anyone was watching or not. She had done far sillier things with being a detective, then playing tag on the front lawn. At least Shaggy wasn't in some crazy monster get up, though maybe the idea would slow him down and let her get past easier. Now that would turn some heads!

"Come on Daph, it's just some harmless fun! So what if someone will watch you? It's not like you are going to wreck a favorite wardrobe or something." Fred pointed out, trying to get her to play. "What, do you think that Mr. McNallie is going to mind? Ha, that old man would probably complain more that he can't show us a thing or two, rather then mind us playing in the grass."

Thinking about it, Daphne knew the people on the block well enough to know that they really won't care. Compared to the various other things they did in the past, she really shouldn't think that they would mind them playing a harmless game. Heck, they came home with music blaring, to many nights to count after a successful mystery! (They had to keep awake some how.) And they had yet to been run off for making noise at all hours. So unless they decided to play this across several yards, there really won't be too much trouble.

With all the evidence against her, Daphne hung her head. She was all dressed up for it, at least. Like Fred had pointed out. So she might as well play.

"Fine! Fine..." Daphne grumbled, resigning herself to her fate. She just knew her hair was going to be a mess, but she might as well give in, or the others would never leave her alone.

Happy that she was going to be playing, Shaggy pushed himself off the ground. He had left himself there as they talked, leaving it as an unofficial time out, as they were trying to get her to move. But Scooby didn't think it as much, as he had been taking advantage of the distraction to hop from side to side. But he was getting too into it, to notice that the game was going back into play.

"Ri'm ron r'one ride, Ri'm ron ra r'other ride. Ri'm ron ra r'east rank, Ri'm ron... Ripes!"

Interrupting Scooby's skipping between the grass, Shaggy dove towards his furry companion.

"Now is a good time to run." Velma offered, waving her hand at the open spot behind where Shaggy had been. Taking off, Velma ran the distance and cleared the pavement without any trouble. She was getting better at this, the more she played. But Daphne hadn't tried yet, so she hesitated. But run she did!

Pushing herself forward, Daphne left the safe corner and ran at the sidewalk to aim for the other side. She was thankful that she had taken Velma's advice that she had given when they went inside. Sneakers were far better for running on grass, then her heels would have been. She never really liked using them, but she always had the right shoe for the right occasion, so she had one on the of chance she needed to match it with an outfit.

Seeing the pavement, she knew that she was not supposed to touch it. Though she wasn't sure if it would be an immediate 'out', but she wasn't going to take that chance. Giving herself enough room to clear it, she jumped the sidewalk successfully!

Landing on the other side, she had made it! The rush had gotten to her, and she recalled all the sudden dashes she had to make on cases. It felt just like that, only she knew that a monster wasn't standing behind her once she stopped. With her heart in her chest, she did a little dance since she had made it.

_Tap tap..._

Interrupting her dance, she felt a tapping on her shoulder. Confused, she paused from her dance to look at what was tapping her on the shoulder. Looking rather apologetic, Shaggy gave her a weak wave when she saw him. One hand still posed in the tapping motion, regretting it.

She was out.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Authors note<strong>- Can anyone guess what two movies I made references too? Fred tried to copy one scene, and Scooby was quoting from another one. Just in case there are any geeks readers here, give it a guess. I'll add it here for the person who gets it first. Bragging rights and all._

_**Love of Purple got it right! Fred is trying to dodge bullets, like in The Matrix. The first movie, that is.**  
><em>

_~Toki_


	4. Another Chance?

"Do over! Do over!" Shouted Daphne with a frown, giving the ground a stamp to add to her complaint. She had just made it across, only to get tagged by Shaggy. Not that he had done anything wrong, but play the game... but she still argued against it. It was her first time after all.

Shaggy didn't know what to do. Part of him felt bad for tagging her, but that was how you played the game. But she had just tried to get across, so maybe he should have let her get by. But had she not stopped and danced, he might have been able to 'miss' and not get her. Looking lost, Shaggy wasn't sure what to say. Or if they should just do over, like she asked. He glanced at the other two, unable to make the decision by himself. So he looked to Velma and Fred for their opinions.

With Daphne pouting, Velma had to shake her head. She did at least try, so she couldn't fault her for it. Fred felt the same way, though he would have never stopped to dance. He did think that Daphne's victory dance had been very cute, but she should have been several feet in before she should have started it. At least he would have, in her position.

"Come on Shagster, let her have a do over. We're not playing all that seriously anyway." Fred called out from the stairs, trying to offer his two cents. Sure he wanted to play, but he got out fair and square. Might as well give Daphne another shot. She had tried, after all. That and it wasn't as much fun, unless all of them were playing.

Nodding to Fred, Shaggy looked over for Velma's confirmation as well. A tight lipped look crossed Velma's face before she conceded. Might as well let Daphne have another chance.

"Like' Alright. One more chance Daph. We'll start back at square one. But sorry Fred, you're still out." Added Shaggy, earning a wave from the man on the sidelines.

"All good Shag, Next time."

Bounding over to their side, Scooby joined the ladies on the other side. Giving Shaggy only one side to focus on, they started at the baseline. Leaning a bit forward, Shaggy got into goalie position, arms stretched to the sides to try to tag the next person across.

"When ever you are ready..." Giving Daphne a nod, Shaggy announced the restart of the game. So all that was left was for someone to try getting past him.

"Rahoo!"

Not wasting time, Scooby shot off like a rocket, aiming at the other side. Shaggy was quick to pursue, but the Dane was faster than his two legged counterpart. With Shaggy distracted, Velma took off running. But Shaggy had been ready for her. Ditching Scooby, he swung back to try to catch the other woman off guard. But Velma had been paying attention, and knew that Shaggy hadn't put his whole effort into chasing Scooby. So she figured he had been just stalling till someone else made their move. But Velma was ready for that, and instead caught Shaggy off guard. Coming to a dead stop, Velma didn't end up where Shaggy had thought she was going to go. Instead, she stepped out of the way as his hand swung where she might have been, had she kept going. Shooting Shaggy a grin, she waved at him.

Darting from behind the waving Velma, Daphne made a sharp dash in the opposite side of Shaggy. With the momentum he had thrown towards trying to catch Velma, he was moving too fast for him to be able to change directions quick enough to catch Daphne as she leapt the sidewalk. Letting her jump carry her further into the lawn on the other side, she made sure not to repeat her last mistake. Whipping around, she found herself untouched and safe.

"Yes!"

With a whoop of victory, Daphne jumped in the air and threw up a fist. Scooby barked beside her, dancing around her in happiness since she had gotten across like him. Making sure she was out of range, Velma skipped back a bit to make sure Shaggy wouldn't be able to get her. From opposite sides, the girls caught each other's eyes before shooting each other a thumbs up.

It wasn't like they had any of that planned, but it wasn't the first time they worked off of each other's actions. And Shaggy knew that. Smiling from where he stopped, he was happy to have them working against him. They were best friends, and often didn't need words to express their feelings. And it was things like that, that made this game the best. It was like all the joy of being chased, without the scary monsters behind them. Often, after they managed to escape the clutches of their latest masked foe, they would collapse laughing together. Another victory behind them, and other villain left in their dust. Sure, it had always been scary at the time, but it was also kinda fun. Though Shaggy would never say that aloud.

Grasping at the air, Daphne was happy at her success. Her heart had been racing as she tried to get to the other side before she got caught. In that split second, she had pushed aside her worries about being seen and was hooked. With a light in her eyes, she caught Velma looking back at her.

"About time." Velma said with a nod, knowing the red head better then she knew herself. Daphne always was a very competitive woman; but she had a long habit of showing people one side of her, before her true self. But the gang was different. Ever since they were kids, it didn't matter who she was the daughter of, or anything like that. Daphne was Daphne, and that was who they were friends with. So in times like these, it was their duty to make sure she remembered who she was.

"Sorry about that." Daphne grinned back at her friend. Feeling slightly embarrassed for letting such a simple thing like appearances, hold her back. _Who cared who was watching?_

Nodding at the same time, the two ladies then turned their attention back to Shaggy, who had been waiting patiently for them to finish. Twitching his fingers together at Daphne, he beckoned for her to come at him.

"Oh yeah. You're asking for it Rodgers."

Tensing herself, she locked eyes with Shaggy as she tried to figure out which side to run to. He had centered himself after the miss of Velma, and so she had a few directions she could go. But she dared not look at either way, since he was watching her as much as she was watching him. She had a few options, that she could think of. To the right of him, to the left, and to the way left towards the street. But the last option was a sink or swim one. You either managed to run quick enough, or got caught.

Not wanting to risk it all by the street, she was down to just two directions. Though she doubted that Shaggy would fall for too many more distractions ploys. So she needed to think of something else. Backing up, Daphne used her peripheral vision to look at the others. With Shaggy in the dead center, Velma was off, behind his left shoulder. While Scooby bobbed to the left of Daphne herself, barely in her view, even with backing up.

The tension was hanging in the air, like a balloon that was about to pop from too much air. Then a smile crossed her face.

_She wasn't going to run._

With the grace of a walkway model, Daphne turned and flicked her hair effortlessly at Shaggy. Taking her eyes completely from him, she set her sights to the sidewalk that stretched across the front. She tried to make it look as natural as she could, and didn't let her eyes dart back to where Shaggy might have been. Each step she took was deliberate and trying to show off as much as possible. Well, as much as she could manage in her tattered, outside clothes. Sauntering to the edge of the cement, Daphne placed her worn shoe covered foot, as close to the sidewalk as she could without out touching it. Waiting a moment, she caught her breath and tensed for the tag that didn't come. Thankfully. Only then, did she finally bring her eyes back to Shaggy. With the most confident look she could muster, she brought her head around to face him. Nodding her head towards him, she brought up a hand to wiggle her pointer finger at him.

"Come get me." She beckoned, trying to make her voice sound as silky as she could.

But the response wasn't what she was expecting. She figured, if she blatantly put herself at the edge, Shaggy would go after her, letting Velma and Scooby have a chance to get across and break the stalemate that had built up. But her psychological warfare, worked a little bit _TOO_ well. As not only Shaggy… But Scooby and Velma had been caught off guard by her sexy saunter. No one had moved an inch.

"**WHOO!** Go Girl!" Fred shouted, being the first to snap out of the daze that her random action had caused. Though his exclamation put into perspective what she had just done. Going from resistant, to irresistible all for a silly game, embarrassed her. Daphne was about to try to hide her face, when she noticed that she wasn't the only one to come to a realization. Shaggy might have been thrown off with her distraction, but Fred's shout brought him out of it and kicked in her plan faster then she had been expecting.

As she tried to back pedal to a safe part of the lawn, she noticed that Scooby wasn't paying any attention. Instead, he was distracted off in the distance. Out of the corner of her eye, Daphne could make out a faint shape of someone in the distance. So she gave it a shot.

"Scooby, isn't that your lady friend?" As she jumped back away from the encroaching Shaggy, Scooby heard what Daphne said and moved eagerly forward to see if that was true. Not being one to waste an opportunity, Shaggy shifted his attention to his distracted buddy.

Daphne made a thud, as her back hit the ground hard from her jump away from Shaggy. And to make sure she didn't have a repeat, she tried to add a bit of roll to the landing, leading her feet away from where Shaggy might have been able to get them. Groaning from the impact, Daphne tried to get up when a hand hovered in her view. Peering up, Daphne found Velma leaning over her.

"From grump to gambler. That's the quickest I've ever seen you turn around. And throwing Scooby under the bus, nice." Velma remarked, though smiling as she heaved the red head to her feet. Helping her dust off the few bits of grass that clung from her tussle on the lawn.

"_What?_" Daphne feigned innocence, batting her eyes up at Velma. Though the brunette wasn't swayed by the look, giving her an eye roll right back at her. Daphne laughed, tossing her hands up in the air. The trick had in essence… worked.

"I'm just trying to play the game."

"Yeah yeah. Well then move your butt and play the game. The two are still busy over there, so now is the perfect time to cross." Velma shook her head as she ran for the line that split the lawn in half. Giving it an experienced jump, she cleared it easily. Daphne was slow, but managed to get across in time for Shaggy to get back in the game.

* * *

><p>Grumbling, Scooby was muttering to himself as he dragged his paws up the stairs where Fred sat. Heaving himself unhappily up the stairs, the Dane heavily dropped himself into a sit next to the other person who was 'out'.<p>

"Ruff..." Scooby sighed.

"Aw, it's ok Scoob. You'll be able to play in a bit." Fred tried to cheer up the sulky Dane, but he tried to fight against the apologetic ear scratching. Moving his head further away, Scooby continued to give Fred a long face.

"Ro... R'upid ro'ran."

"Stupid woman? I mean, Daphne was kinda asking for it, but you should blame her for distracting herself." Fred tried to cover for Daphne. The idea had been a good one, though unexpected. And he would have probably done the same thing, in her situation. Scooby was prone to distraction, and so he figured it was a good tactic as any, if need be.

But Scooby turned to Fred, and gave him a confused look. "R'not Raphne. R'ady Rarry R'ellen Role. Hmph." He nodded hi head in a direction, before turning his nose away. He was snubbing the woman that was walking across the street, on the other side where they had been playing. It took a while for Fred to get what Scooby was talking about. Peering over to where Scooby had nodded, he noticed the woman and put two and two together.

"Oh, Mary Ellen Cole. The nice lady down the block who has that cute Dane you have your eye on." Good eye Daph, you were almost right. Fred mentally commented, as he noticed the woman passing by. Sure, it was the owner, but Scooby was complaining that her companion was missing. Chuckling, Fred gave the Dane a rough head rub.

"Ah, next time buddy. Maybe you'll see her in the park later. But not now. We got a game to play."

"AW MAN!"

Getting up from where he was sitting, he moved to the railing to see where Daphne was hitting the ground in annoyance. She was on her knees, and taking her frustration on the ground by her hands. Velma too, was on the ground, trying to catch her breath. The worst part, was Shaggy. He was standing there, with an odd grin on his face. And Fred had no clue what had just happened. Well, besides that it seemed that the girls had finally been caught.

"What happened?" Fred asked, curious at what had done the two women in. But that only earned Fred a glare from Daphne. Thrusting her finger accusingly at Shaggy, she shook it a few times at him as she stuttered to try to find the right words.

"That... **That**... Ugh! Shaggy he... Oooooo, I'll get you for _this_ Norville." Daphne threatened, heaving herself up to sit with a snort on the 'out' stairs. But she still didn't explain what happened. And Velma didn't offer too much information either. Fred only watched as Shaggy helped her to her feet, earning him a thanks and a hefty punch to the shoulder. She too, ended up on the 'out' stairs. Leaving only Shaggy on the lawn, with a grin plastered on his face.

"Alright! Like' That was fun!" He chirped happily, enjoying the game a whole lot more, then when he had played it with the boys. "You guys want to play again? Same version?"

"YES!" Daphne hissed, catching Fred off guard, while he heard a chuckle from both Velma and Shaggy at the comment.

_What did I miss?_ Fred mentally grumbled.

"Alright, Then I'll pick..." 


	5. Fred up to bat

"Fred!" Chirped Shaggy, still grinning at his victory over the two ladies. "You're _it_ next!"

"Hmph." Daphne snorted, dusting off some grass as she popped off the 'out' stair and moved to get back to position. She shot an angry glare Shag's way, giving the ground a bit of a stomp as she prepared for Fred to get into position. Velma was less to hold a grudge, as she had gotten her shoulder punch in to exact revenge. That and now that she knew that he was in his bag of tricks; she would be more prepared next time. Opting to be on the opposite side, she moved across the lawn across from Daphne. Happy to get back in the game, Scooby snapped out of his sulking in an instant. Bounding from where Fred had been consoling him, to take up position next to Daphne. Who gave his head a scratch before returning to her ready pose.

"I might as well get into place as well." Fred chuckled, moving off the stairs to finally get back in the game. He made a mental note never to try copying the Matrix again. It might work for the first dodge, but not too much for the rest. As gravity was stronger than his movie-fu.

Skipping down the stairs, Fred noticed that Shaggy was still on the sidewalk, with his hand hanging in the air. Taking the invitation, he gave Shaggy a high five, taking the mantle for being '_it_' from him.

"Hee hee." Shaggy giggled as he was finally not it. As much as he liked chasing everyone, he was a lot better at avoiding then catching. So he was eager to show off some of his moves he had learned from playing with the twins. Bouncing to make the sides equal, he moved to stand on Velma's side. Grin almost splitting his face as he was so happy they had come out to play. Itching for Fred to say he was ready.

Taking a deep breath in and out, Fred prepared himself. He had gotten out far too early, so he wanted to catch them so he would be able to get back to running around too. He didn't mind being the one it, but he liked not being it as well. And last time, he had only made it across one time. And he wanted to try to beat that next time he got the opportunity. The girls had each gotten across more than his single time, and he had to prove that he could play too.

But now it was time to plan...

"Alright. Come on." Fred spoke to the others, crouching a little in preparation for them to cross. Wiggling his fingers, he made sure they knew that he was ready for them. "Yahoo!"  
>"Rahoo!"<br>"Whoo!"

Shouts came from all sides, and the lawn became a blur of colors. Unsure what to do first, Fred tried to track each color as they ran, but it was just too many for him to really move against. Moving his head this way and that, by the time he tried to plan his next move, they had already jumped across. And when he moved to go after the next; they too, had gotten past him.

When the grass settled, Fred was still standing in the middle of the sidewalk, while the rest of the gang had switched lawn sides in his confusion.

"Wow."

Fred said blinking, taken aback by the blitzkrieg of movement the rest of them had just pulled off. He just couldn't think fast enough to be able to catch them. It was really impressive. But not something you could really do more than then initial rush when the game started.

As he was still reeling from the bum rush, Daphne was going to take advantage of his confusion. Pushing off the lawn, she made a dash dangerously close to Fred's arm range. But something told her she would be able to pull it off. As she was running, she noticed something coming up towards her as she was reaching the sidewalk. It was Shaggy, coming from the other side. Grinning, she jumped the sidewalk at the same time he did, giving a high five to him in the middle of their jump. Which he grinned and had prepared his hand to receive her hand.

Watching the two pass by him on one side, he moved too late to catch either. Swinging his body around, he swung at the empty space that the high five had occupied a few ticks earlier. With his back turned, it was an easy opportunity to allow Scooby to dash right behind him. Fred again, was too slow in his movement to catch the Dane in time.

"Dang..." Fred snapped his fingers, grumbling that he had missed them both.

Returning to the middle of the sidewalk, he knew that he was going to have to move his plan along. Bobbing back and forth, he was going to have to kick it up a notch now. Hearing someone move behind him, He turned and slid to prevent Shaggy from crossing, but Shaggy was only faking the dash. Fred focused on Shaggy, planting one foot firmly on the sidewalk, he lunged towards Shaggy. One arm widely swinging towards the lanky man. But Shaggy was able to notice the large movement ahead of time, and dodge out of the way. And since Fred was so focused on Shaggy, the others were able to cross while he was distracted. When Velma crossed nearby, Fred tried to move towards her, moving his other arm in her direction. But she was far away from him, and didn't have to worry about his wide, obvious swing.

"Good try Fred." Shaggy grinned, waving at Fred as he leaned into their side of the lawn. "As long as you are stepping on the sidewalk with part of you, it's in the rules to tag someone out. You just need to be a bit faster."

"Thanks Shag." Fred sighed, pushing off and returning to the sidewalk defeated. He missed. He would have to do better.

The next few passes were the same. Close calls and near misses. But he was getting closer, but still with no avail. He was always a few seconds late, or facing the wrong direction and took too long to spin around to go after the person behind him.

Placing him hands upon his knees, he was leaning over and trying to catch his breath. Panting a bit, he looked like he was feeling all those near misses. And they were crossing over faster and closer, taking advantage of his weariness.

As Fred was facing away from him, Shaggy grinned. Pointing to Daphne and Scooby, who were on the other side. He gave them thumbs up. Turning to Velma at his side, he smiled and nodded his head towards the other side.

"Go!" Shaggy shouted, trying to give Fred a heads up. To give him a bit of an advantage as they ran towards him...

...Just like Fred had planned.

As the gang dashed towards him, Fred snapped up and put his plan into action. He had been faking it for most of the swings, and giving them false information on his reach. Never fully reaching out after them, and not putting his full strength into his dashes. Sure, he had been serious a few times. But he had been hoping something like this would happen. As the group came towards him, he moved forward to catch Shaggy off guard. Tagging him on the shoulder, he spun his heels and pushed off to tag Scooby on the head, and Daphne on the arm. Turning again, he paused as he found Velma standing perfectly still... and out of his range.

"R'aw."  
>"Man..."<br>"Fred!"

The three others complained, as in one shot, Fred had tagged them all. Well, everyone who had run. Velma had crossed a few times, but no matter how 'tired' he looked, Fred never lost that look he got in his eyes as he was planning something. So she knew him too well, and she would have done the same thing that he had done, in his position.

"Nice." Fred smiled, not exactly surprised that Velma wasn't fooled.

Daphne stormed off to the stairs, plopping herself down with a huff, crossing her arms. She couldn't complain too much, since she had honestly fallen for it. And let her confidence go too much to her head. Scooby had gotten fooled, but he would probably fall for it again. He was not really one for planning things ahead of time. Shaggy was having too much fun to grumble too much. He gave Fred a clap on his shoulder as he moved towards the rest.

"Better watch out for that one." He nodded back towards Velma. "She's a wily one."

"Hehe, you're telling me." Fred laughed turning his attention to Velma. She was the last one he had to tag, before he could get back to running. But as excited that his plan had worked, he now needed to put that aside and concentrate on going after the smartest of their group. He knew that trick won't work. So now he would have to think of something else. Something that Velma hadn't thought of yet.

"Hmmmm..."


	6. Duel begins

It was a staring contest.

From behind her thick rims, her eyes locked upon his dark eyes. Seconds ticked by, as the two contenders continued to look for weaknesses and see who would move first. Like a calculated chess game, they were each trying to see steps ahead of each other. Even the three that were out, had their attention locked on the lawn before them. Curious at who would move first... and how.

It was amazing to Velma, how small the sidewalk seemed at that very moment. With Fred standing in such a manner to cover any direction she could think of, his posture was a bit intimidating. Not in such a way to be feared, but more like a huge obstacle in her path. Yet the quick glances at his feet, made the distance of the sidewalk seem greater than it had been before. Like she would have to jump even further, to be able to make it across. But she knew it was just her mind playing games with her, and she was over thinking things as usual.

_But the problem was still Fred... and how to get past him._

Towering over her, Fred had a few good inches more than her short frame. He was also a lot wider and had a longer reach then she had. She figured she was faster in the long run, but there was more than speed involved in this endeavor. A lot more.

She could hear the calls from the others on the stairs, but easily ignored their calls for her to move. She didn't want to get out. Not yet at least. She had her pride, and she wanted to make it across once... no, twice before she would even let up and maybe make a mistake to get herself caught.

But even as she was staring him down, there was a feeling that was bubbling up from her insides. She was having fun... and a lot of it. More than she thought she might with a simple game of tag.

_Simple, eh?_

Taking a few steps back, she broke off the contest to look over at the out stair. There Daphne was getting riled up and shouting for them to get it over with, so she could get back in the game and play again. Adding a few energetic hand gestures and pacing. Which easily made Shaggy laugh at her efforts, since earlier she seemed like she didn't want to play.

_Simple... Plain... **Fun**._

She laughed at herself. Why was she making something that was supposed to be just plain fun, so complicated? She was going about this the wrong way. Sure, she loved a good chess match and all. But that's what those kinds of games are made for. '_Sometimes you just have to have fun, and run for the sake of running. Plus, it would really throw Fred for a loop, wouldn't it?'_ She thought to herself with a chuckle.

Looking back up, she met Fred's slightly confused look with her own confident one. Shooting him a grin, she nodded in his direction.

"Fred, I'm going to run now."

And with that, she took off! Pushing off the grass so hard that a clump went flying, she dashed off to one side, hoping that he would follow. It took Fred a little bit to realize what was going on, and quickly moved to give chase.

The two of them dashed towards the out stair, causing Daphne to jump back at the two came close. But Fred had surprised her with how quick he had closed the gap between the two, so she had to skid and turn back to run in the opposite direction. Barely managing to duck under the arm he swung at her, in an honest attempt to catch her. Which only missed by hairs breathe. But he was undeterred! With Daphne jumping back, Fred was able to jump up on the stairs and used it to push off and shoot back in into the game and chasing Velma yet again.

Back and forth, they chased each other. With Fred always just a smidgen behind her, that Velma felt like she would get caught. So she changed her direction and made him have to adjust. But he through her some curve balls too, as he would hope over the lawn corner, to land on the other side and cut her off from escaping. Scampering to a stop, she pushed back to a safe corner to catch her breath. It was frustrating as much as it was exhilarating. And she could see that Fred was as tired as she was.

"Wow... that was close Velms." Fred panted, shooting her a thumb up from where he leaned on himself. "I almost got you though."

"Almost is the word Fred,_ almost_." Velma smiled back at him, giving her head a shake. She still wanted to get across... And no matter how tired she was, she was still going to try.

"Shall we?"

"Let's..."

Pushing off, Velma ignored the burning feeling in her legs to run straight towards the sidewalk, which she knew that Fred was going to try to cut her off. As his form moved closer, she gritted her teeth and suddenly shifted her direction towards the thin stretch of grass that sat past the adjacent sidewalk that made a T shape to cut the lawn into the three non-it pieces. But this one was far from safe. But she was going to bet on it.

As Fred changed directions and rushed towards her, she had stopped sooner than he had expected. Unable to stop in time, he jumped the small stretch of grass to land on the street beyond. (Which was technically considered the sidewalk, due to it being not grass.) But the leap pushed him further then he had planned to go, allowing Velma to easily hop back to her original piece of grass, and then on to her goal on the other side.

"Whoo!"

Falling to the ground, Velma laid with her face to the sky as she strained to catch her breath. But she had done it! Whoops and cheers had come from the stairs, the rest of the out gang happy that she had finally managed to get across. Especially after Fred had managed to get them all out in one go. So they were routing for Velma to beat Fred. And it wasn't due to any fancy complicated plan... Just a hope and lots of running. And it had worked! Which probably had to be the best part.


	7. Honest vs Devious

Looking up from the ground, Velma noticed a shadow arching in the way of her vision. It took her a second for her eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, to see Fred was leaning over her. He was smiling, as he looked down at her. Hovering nearby, was an extended hand. _To help her up? To congratulate her for getting past him? Both?_ She didn't know, but she took it anyway.

Getting tugged to her feet, Velma took a second to get her balance and stand on her own power. It was a weird feeling as her body went from laying on the ground, to vertical. Leaving her head a bit swimming from the suddenness. But oddly enough, Fred's hand didn't let go of her hand, even once she got her footing. Looking up at Fred, he was smiling still. Giving her hand a squeeze, he then moved to give it a shake.

"Man, you got me there Velms. I lost fair and square. But that was fun!" Laughing, Fred admitted his defeat. Velma echoed his laugh and relaxed in his grip against her hand. Happy that he had admitted that to her.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to pull that off, honestly." She admitted. But sometimes it was nice to just kind of run with it, and see what happened. Rather then meticulously plan something out, and try to calculate all the variables and factors in a situation.

Tugging on her hand a little, Fred nodded. "Yeah, it was a close one. But you got me in the end. Gave me quite a chase!"

"... Well, better luck next... **HEY!**"

Using the hand shake as a distraction, Fred was holding a polite seeming conversation as he was ever so slightly pulling the distracted Velma towards the sidewalk. He had come over to the grass to help her up, but he wouldn't be able to tag her out, unless he managed to get a foot upon the cement. And so his devious mind was trying to snag her before she would notice. Sadly though, his plan was caught!

Digging her heels deep into the grass, she was able to catch Fred off guard for him to miss his foot from seeking the sidewalk in time. With a desperate yank, Velma shifted her center of gravity in order to pull Fred towards her and away from her certain capture! Not expecting her to react that suddenly, Fred found himself off balance and moving not only beside her... but far beyond her. And in trying to catch his footing in time, he released her hand allowing her to push past and hop over to the other side of the lawn safely.

Once safe, she turned and shot him an angry look.

"Fred Jones! Why you dirty little... Oohhhhh..." Velma steamed, especially after she had played so fair to get across before. _And here he was trying to get her out... which was the point of the game... Darn._ Her mind chided herself, bringing up that fact so that she couldn't really be mad at him.

"Fine! Be sneaky. See if I care." Velma snorted, giving her foot a stamp worthy of Daphne. (Who normally was the kind to get worked up about something like that.) But it annoyed Velma a bit, since she had genuinely tried and managed to get across without any fancy plans or complicated thoughts. And here he was being sneaky and devious… And she didn't think of it first. And so she wouldn't be able to use something like that this time around.

_…Though next time…_

"Hehehe, well how else do you think I can catch the smartest member of our little band?"Fred said with a laugh, dusting his pants off since he had taken a bit of a tumble as she had gotten across. Her sudden strength had caught him by surprise. Not that he didn't know that she was that strong, but more on how quickly she was able to use it. While it was useful on a mystery for yanking something open quickly which was heavier then it seemed, for her to use that in a game of tag had thrown him a curveball he hadn't expected.

"Flattery won't work on me." Velma said, crossing her arms. Normally she liked flattery, but only in certain situations. And in the middle of a game of tag, wasn't one of them.

"...But distraction does!" Poking her in the shoulder, Fred had dashed quickly from where he had been standing to the sidewalk and stretched to reach her. Another mystery based technique they had all learned over the years, mainly used for dashing behind cover just in time. But she started, so no reason why he couldn't use it as well… But only just barely. But Velma hadn't expected that, earning a wide eyed look at the finger that was gently depressing into her shoulder. She could have sworn she had positioned herself somewhere safe… But apparently not.

_'Phew... I'm so lucky I never over stretched fully... Or that wouldn't have worked.'_ Fred thought to himself with a mental sigh of relief.

"Aw... Darn, you got me." Velma snorted, but moved quickly to laughter. "...I'll give you that Jones. Nice game." She said as she offered her hand out to him, who took it whole heartily.

"I wasn't sure that was going to work. Phew. I wish I caught you sooner." Fred admitted, earning another laugh from her.

"The Great Dinkley has finally fallen!" Daphne said, with a smirk on her face as she leaned on the railing from the stairs.

"Har har..." Velma said with an amused smile and an eye roll. She shot a raspberry up at the redhead, who just shot one right back to her. Both acting equally mature.

"Alright Fred, who's like' it next?" Shaggy asked, getting himself up from the stairs and moving a bit to get ready either way. Though he hoped that he would be able to run some more.

Placing a hand on his chin, he gave the bunch a look over. Since Shaggy asked first, he looked his beatnik buddy over. For as fast as he had caught the man earlier, he doubt that would be the case again. And he had been pretty tough as the person it, so he didn't want to give that to back to him. Plus there were others who hadn't been it yet, to give it back to Shaggy already. So his vision moved to Scooby, lounging on the stairs still. No one had woken up the Dane from his nap, and he was still out like a light across a few stairs. And as distracted as the dog was asleep, as much as awake... he was still a tough competition when it came to chasing. Since that was what most dogs did for fun anyway! A stick, car... Shaggy trying to get away with a triple decker sandwich. So Scooby wasn't exactly high on his list to make it.

So that left two somebody's...

"Hey... I got an idea." Moving beside Shaggy, he tossed an arm over the slightly taller, but lankier companion and thumbed a hand towards the two ladies.

"Why don't we have guys verse girls? Didn't you say that some versions have two people it? Well..." He gestured at Velma and Daphne with a wave of his free hand. "... Why not have the girls it, together?"

Second ticked away... With the idea out in the open, the two women moved their heads to look at one another. As their eyes met, the gears started to turn. Slowly, their minds dawned upon the idea and smiled in unison.

Making Fred instantly, regret his decision… 


	8. Battle of the Sexes

"Me and my bright ideas..."

Grumbling to himself, Fred found himself intimidated by the scene in front of him. He and Shaggy had chosen to be on one side, while Scooby took the other lawn. And standing back to back in the middle of the sidewalk, stood two imposing forces against him and the duo.

"...Another of my brilliant plans, back firing on me."

"Like' Cheer up Fred. We haven't been caught, yet."

Chirped back a response from the ever cheery Shaggy, who had a beaming smile across his face. He actually loved it, since the main reason he had wanted to play the game in the first place, was for the challenge. And certainly pairing up Daphne and Velma had been a doozy. Everything they had tried so far, had been cut off by the pair on the sidewalk. But the guys had managed to dodge their way back to a safer spot on the lawn. So they had gotten into a stalemate.

"And here I came out to see what all the hubbub was about, and I find you two in a pickle."

Chuckling from behind Fred and Shaggy, was Mr. McNallie. The older neighbor that lived right next door. Leaning upon the fence that separated their two lawns, he seemed amused at the situation. The grizzled old vet snickered at the pair, tossing his head towards Daphne and Velma who waved back to him, though didn't move from their back to back position, cutting off another attempt from Scooby on the other lawn.

"You boys look like you're in trouble there. Pity I have this old knee injury, or I would be showing you two a thing or two about crossing over into enemy territory."

The old man said with a laugh, tossing a thumb towards the ladies.

"...Though I didn't have such lovely enemies to captured by." The old man snickered, wigging an eyebrow towards Daphne and Velma.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. McNallie." Daphne tossed back at him, sending a blown kiss his way. Not only was he her favorite neighbor, but he also owned one of her favorite stores in her mall. So he was allowed to get away with a lot. And Velma had spent hours milking him for a personal account of various historical events, for him to also have earned her favor. Putting up with his flirtations at times, though occasionally earning a eye roll.

But even with her attention divided, Daphne was still able to cut off another attempt that Fred made.

"Heh, looks like you'll have to try harder than _that_, Fred m'Boy." Chuckled McNallie from the sidelines, amused to see Fred's attempt cut off easily by Daphne. Though it didn't surprise him too much, since he had seen Daphne dash across his store many times, to get to a sale first before anyone else. So he knew that when she was motivated, Daphne could be really book it.

"Looks like I'll have to pull _that_, out."

Shaggy said, getting a randomly serious look on his face. Putting his hands together, his gave his knuckles a crack. Bouncing in place, he wiggled his neck back and forth for a second before getting a mischievous glint in his eye.

As soon as his feet touched earth from a bounce, he ran straight at the two ladies. But at the last second, he dashed off to the right. But Velma was quick to give chase. Stopping suddenly, he ducked under her attempt to tag him, only to dash back off towards the other direction. Which Daphne took the chase back up, as Velma tried to stop and get back on track. But he made another duck and dash in the opposite direction. Hitting about the middle between the two ladies, he ran away from the sidewalk for a second, before looping back towards the gap that was slowly closing between the two ladies. All three pushed themselves to their limit, as Daphne and Velma closed on Shaggy.

"Oh no..." Velma gasped, unable to stop herself in time.

Both ladies eyes grew wide, as Shaggy grinned and dropped from their vision. Taking the last few dashes towards the sidewalk on hands and feet, he leapt over the cement and hit the ground on the other side at high speeds. But he was prepared for the impact, taking the momentum into a gymnastic roll, popping up to his feet after a few spins. Leaving him far from either of their reaches.

And unable to stop themselves, Daphne took a dive into the grass, while Velma skidded to a halt.

"Dang it Shaggy! Not that again!" Daphne said, pounding a fist into the ground, echoing her motions that she had done a few games ago. Snorting some hair out of her face, she glared at the beatnik for his skilled act. Identical to the move that he had pulled on her and Velma earlier to get them out. Only this time, he used it to get past them both.

"Can we rule that gymnastics are against the rules?" Daphne sulked, accepting Velma's hand to pull herself to her feet.

"I don't think so Daph, just because we can't do it, doesn't mean we should say that he can't do it." Velma grumbled, but couldn't fault Shaggy for pulling off an amazing dodge. Though she was nimble on her feet, she was nowhere near the level of Shaggy when he got serious.

"Mph!" Daphne sighed in annoyance, but got back into position.

"Just try that again Norville... I got your number." Holding up two fingers to her eyes, she then turned it and pointed them to him. Which only earned a big beaming smile from Shaggy, who was still trying to catch his breath from his crazy dash. While it worked, he knew that he really couldn't use it like that again.

"... Uh, Fred?" Came an inquiring tone, from the sidelines.

"Yes Mr. McNallie?" Fred replied, still in awe of the cool move that Shaggy pulled off.

"You missed a perfect opportunity to run, M'boy."

"Rah. Rah."

Agreed Scooby, who had used the distraction to get himself across the lawn while they had been trying to get back to their feet.

"..."

Hanging his head, Fred face palmed himself. "...Drat."


End file.
